His Girls
by tgrfan23
Summary: A quiet Friday night in the Rigsby household. One possible future for my favorite CBI pair. As always - I don't own 'em, Bruno Heller does. Reviews are appreciated!


Grace Van Pelt opened her eyes sleepily as she heard vague noises coming from the baby monitor connected to her daughter's room. Rolling over to her side, she squinted at the alarm clock on the nightstand, which read 12:30. She also noticed that her husband's side of the bed was empty; this wasn't too unusual, as his team had been working long hours recently, trying to solve the murder of a 15-year-old girl found just outside of Sacramento. What was unusual, was the fact that the sheets were rumpled and the bedspread pulled back. _Great_, she thought as she sunk backwards into her pillows, _he gets home at a relatively reasonable hour and I sleep right through it. _

The six weeks since Lucy had arrived had been rough for the couple; three months before Grace was due, Rigsby had been offered the opportunity to lead his own unit. They spent many a late night discussing his options while finishing up the nursery; ultimately, she had encouraged him to accept, even knowing that it might keep him away from home more than he was already. Add in the natural stress of being new parents, and there were times when they would go for days at a stretch only seeing each other in the morning before he left for work.

Grace was blinking back tears of exhaustion and frustration when she heard her husband's voice cooing softly to their daughter through the monitor. He was reading to her from his favorite bedtime story. Since she was going to be up for Lucy's 1AM feeding anyway, Van Pelt rolled carefully out of bed and decided to join them.

_Two hours earlier …_

Wayne Rigsby pulled up to the driveway in front of the little two-story townhouse he and Grace shared. _10:30. Earliest I've gotten home on a Friday in three weeks. _ His team had been putting in very long hours trying to solve their latest case; they'd made an arrest that day and handed the suspect over to the DA's office, after extracting a full confession with relative ease. Rigsby was finally free to spend a full weekend with his two favorite girls for the first time since they'd brought Lucy home from the hospital.

Rigsby carefully opened the front door, trying his best not to make too much noise in the dark. Setting his keys on the entry table, he spied a note from his wife on the dining table, along with a sandwich.

_Honey -_

_Wasn't sure when you were going to be home tonight, but if I know you, you worked straight through dinner, so I made you a sandwich. If you're not hungry, put it in the fridge; it will be fine until tomorrow. I love you._

_-G_

He smiled and tucked the note under the plate, heading to the kitchen to grab something to drink. _I am the luckiest bastard in the world_, he thought as he reached into the fridge and poured a glass of milk to accompany his favorite sandwich – roast beef on pumpernickel with lettuce, pickles, mayo and pepperjack cheese.

Sandwich finished, he set the plate and glass in the dishwasher and headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Grace was already sound asleep in their bed; he quietly changed into a t-shirt and sweats, tossing his shirt into the laundry and hanging up his suit and tie, climbed under the covers and kissed his wife tenderly on the forehead before falling into a very deep sleep.

An hour later, he was roused from that deep sleep by noise from the baby monitor, which was positioned on his side of the bed. He knew Lucy was just fussing; she often woke up an hour before her late-night feeding and went back to sleep shortly. Normally he would have let her fuss for a few minutes longer, but he missed his little girl and decided to risk the wrath of her mother later by going to check on her.

He crept into her nursery as quietly as he could. He peered over the side of her crib and saw her fidgeting mightily, trying to get back under her blanket. Rigsby smiled when he saw that she was wearing her pink and white onesie that read "Daddy's Little Princess." He'd bought that onesie for her the day they found out they were expecting a girl. She'd had him wrapped around her tiny fingers before she was even out of the womb.

He gently scooped her up from the crib, causing her to squall a little louder. "Shh, sweetheart, it's okay," he whispered into her ear. "Let's try not to wake up Mommy, okay? Daddy's got you." He placed a kiss on the top of her head and nimbly settled her into the crook of his left arm, as he crossed the room to her bookshelf. He spied the book he wanted and plucked it off its' place on the shelf. He flicked on the reading lamp next to the couch, and shielded her hazel eyes from the brightness while they both adjusted to the lighting. Settling into the corner of the couch, he began to read.

"Goodnight, moon ...."

Grace tiptoed towards the nursery, not wanting to tip off her husband to her arrival. As she peered through the partially-open door, she marveled at how natural he was with their little girl, and how tiny she looked cradled in his arms. She recalled the feeling of abject terror that had reared its ugly head when she'd discovered her pregnancy - _We didn't plan for this! Are we even ready to be parents? What about our careers? - _she'd just transferred into the newly-formed Cyber Crimes unit a month before they got married; but all her reservations had melted away when she saw the look on Wayne's face when she'd informed him he was going to be a father. He was so excited, he picked her up off the ground and spun her around so joyfully that when he set her back down, she was dizzy. They did a lot of negotiating in those first few weeks, deciding when to tell their friends and colleagues (Grace didn't start showing until almost five months, so they kept it quiet as long as possible) and what to do about their assignments. Fortunately, Grace's new role on the Cyber Crimes Unit allowed her to work from home occasionally, and she took full advantage of that option right up until her due date. Everything had worked out pretty well for them so far.

She shook her head to bring herself back to reality, and entered the room stealthily - Wayne was so engrossed in the book, he didn't even look up until he felt her weight sink into the couch next to him.

"Hey."

"Hey," she replied with a smile. "Is she asleep?"

He looked down quickly and pressed a kiss to Lucy's forehead, right where her hairline would be, if she had any hair. She didn't even stir. "Yup, she's down for the count, for now at least."

"Hopefully she can hold out until 3AM this time."

Rigsby rose carefully from the couch and strode back to the crib, settling Lucy down next to her stuffed bear. He returned to the couch and wrapped his arms around Grace, nuzzling her neck before she shifted to lean back against his chest.

She snuggled into his embrace. "How did your day go? Is the case going any better?"

He smiled, happy to have good news to report, finally. "Better is an understatement. We made an arrest, got a full confession, and turned everything over to the DA."

Grace sat bolt upright and turned around to face her husband. "Case closed? I get my husband back for the whole weekend?" she asked skeptically.

He nodded, thrilled to see her smile after weeks of long days, next to no sleep, and basically functioning as a single parent to a newborn. "Case closed. We're not even on call this weekend, so no work until Monday morning, I promise."

She threaded her hands through the hair at the back of his neck and drew him into a passionate kiss. "Mmm, that's the best news I've heard all day."

He pulled her toward him, wrapped her legs around his waist, stood up, and carried her out of the room. "C'mon, let's go back to bed for as long as Lucy will let us sleep."

And they did. Until 3AM.


End file.
